Whirlwind weekend

With Jake's European tour quickly approaching, he wanted to get in one last weekend of mountain biking before he left. So plans were made to attend the Rocky Mountain Bike Festival right next to Invesco Field. Then head over to boulder and ride Valmont bike park, that was opening up the same day. We ended up spending the night at the Freer house. Thanks a ton Jenn for putting up with us and making us that wonderful dinner. Sunday we ran back over to Curt Gowdy and rode there. Great ride, even if it did get pretty windy towards the end. Pedaling to get down hill is no fun.

 

We arrived a little early so we unloaded the bikes and rode around Invesco Field.  It was fun riding around while there were no crowds.  We rode the short distance to the bike show and checked our bikes.  Nothing like bike shows with valet parking.  We then roamed the booths. 

The Boo bikes booth was pretty cool but what I liked the most were the TRP brakes on there cross bike.  The stands were also very cool.

The guys at King Cage had this bike on the side of there booth.  Pretty beefy.  They were twisting up cages for you right at the table.  Bought a top cap adapter and Iris cage for Joab.

Here is the Dean FS bike.  The craftsmanship was awesome.  Beautiful bike.

The boys tried on a bunch of sunglasses and then Joab found this.  Pretty darn sexy.  Thou Joab didn't think it would shave that much of his Stonetemple loop time.

 

The BlackSheep bikes were absolutely beautiful.  The FS job at the top had three types of finish on it.  I couldn't get good pics on it.  The logo was polished Ti, then masked off and they bead blasted a design around the outside of that OVER the original/normal Ti finish.  Great guys to talk to also.  You can tell they think about the ride and THEN think about how to make it stunning.  Still it wasn't my favorite bike there.

Then we had to stop looking at bikes and get a little competitive.  This place goes to bars, events, charities, etc and you can race your friends and enemies too.  They were a fun group and no matter what Jake says, I let him win.

After talking to a steel tubing manufacture that was there we had to go back to the Dean booth to see the steel tubing with carbon cutouts.  Very very cool.  Major drool factor.  I kept using the word bacon instead of carbon when talking to the Dean rep, he started looking at me funny.(inside joke to those in the know)

 

It may not be the best looking bike there, but damn I REALLY liked this bike.  Chris the guy that designed this really had it all together when he built it.  I'm still not quite sold on the Maverick fork.  It's hard to argue when the suspension guru in the next booth and Chris the maker of the bike are talking about this fork like it's some sort of god.  Chris let me and Jake play around on it.  What a great feeling bike.  I think I might love a geared version.  Check his stuff out...GENERIC CYCLES

 The there was the Big Wheel guy.  This guy is making adult sized Big Wheels.  Wow....they were a blast.  I also stopped at YipSan cycles.  A custom frame maker out of Fort Collins Colorado.  I was so busy yaking with him about bikes, tire sizes, paint, etc that I totally forgot to take any pictures.  I did get a T-shirt thou.  Here's a link to his stuff.  YipSan

After taking it all in we drove to Boulder and met Jenn, Tiki and Buster.  We had some interesting pizza and then hit a couple bike stores.  When ever you get to Boulder's Pearl street stop in and see Vecchio's Bicicletteria.  Hope I spelled that right.  Shop was uber busy.  However they made time to chat with me about Moot's bikes and sell me a really cool handle bar.  

Wait for it to load!

They also told me for a six/twelve pack I could demo a Moots.  I just might take them up on that.  

After the shops we hit the grand opening of the Valmont bike park.  Lots of trails and things to fall on.  It was a blast.  Jake only came away mildly bruised.

Then Sunday we got up, had Lucieles for Breakfast and headed to Wyoming's Curt Gowdy.  Last weekend we rode Stonetemple up and rode Ignoramus.  We had a blast.  So we did it again this weekend.

Between loops we hit the fun park by the trail head.  Jake and Joab showed off there wall riding skillz.

 

 The Slingshot rode great.  Only had a bit of toe overlap once or twice.  I'm pretty sure if I was clipped in it wouldn't be a problem.  However since I run flat pedals and I seem to at times plant my foot further forward then normal.  So sometimes I get an occasional rub.  It climbed like mad.  The Kenda Karma's hook up really well.  I could tell I was rolling over things easier, and I could tell on the switchbacks that it had bigger wheels then my 26er too.  All in all I liked it.  I think with a little more riding and fiddling with seat position and such it'll be a great bike.

Proud Cannondale owner

And then as the winds picked up, the trail drew to a end Jake got his second flat of the weekend.

That pretty much ended our riding weekend.  The boys were tired and hungry and so was I.

Operation CG11_1

Operation CG11_1 started in the wee hours of the morning on June 4th 2011.

Operation goals:
1) Aquaire Joab Olsen at DIA
2) Proceed to CGRA* ASAP     *=Curt Gowdy Rec Area
3) Establish base camp
4) Recon area again...and again...and again

Joab's flight arrived at 7:20am so Jake and I had to get a early start from the farm. 

 

 

We made it to DIA with no problems.  Just some minor flopping of the bike rack we were using.  I haven't bought a rack for the top of the Mazda yet so we are using a hitch rack.  It's not ideal for us really.  It does hold all our bike and allow us to carry all the camping gear we need however.  While waiting for Joab to come in at Denver my phone decided to go on the fritz.  Luckily Joab spotted his Dad's gleaming bald head.  I signed for my son and we were off.  Joab being the ultra smart traveler he is, didn't check a bag and just brought his carry-ons.  

We loaded up and high tailed it to Curt Gowdy.  The Woman at the front desk said she was pretty sure they were full but we could look and see if there was a spot.  We drove right to the place we camped the year before and picked a nice spot.  Not crowded at all.  We set up camp and then jumped on the bikes....and when I say Jump I mean Jumped.

 

Jake and I stopped at the Specialized demo booth and checked out a pair of hardtail 29er's.  After we returned him Jake made a new friend.

We took a long hike up Crow Creek next to the lake, then jumped on the bikes again and went up to the first playground on Stonetemple loop.  Here's the boys making there way thru the meadow.

When we got done I noticed that the boys had picked up some very cool hair styles.

  We hurried back in time to greet Jen Freer.  She came over from Longmont to camp with us for the night and help the boys with there fire tending skills.  They seem to have gotten pretty rusty.  We ate backpacker meals and then  got the fire stoked up and dug out the marshmallows.

Evolution

Sunday we woke up, at breakfast and rode to the Specialized shack agan.  I ended up riding three different bikes over the weekend.  First was a Hardtail 29er, Second a Epic 29er and the last a Specialized Camber.  I liked the Camber the best of all of them.  The Epic was the biggest let down.  However all the bikes I rode reassured me that I made the right choice with my Turner.  After riding a bit in Gowdy we headed over to Vedauwoo.  Rode some of the trails around there.

And to finish out the pictures....

With the weather being what it has been lately, cabin fever had set in hard. We found a excuse to drive to Boulder and pick up a bike we got off Craigslist. Then ran over and took Jake out on his new(to him) Jekyll. Weather was awesome, trails were pretty much dry.

This was me returning to the car after being informed my helmet was missing. I'm going to use the excuse it was my first real ride in Colorado this year and leave it at that.

Returning triumphant with my helmet intact.

Jake making his dad proud.

When I went back to retrieve my helmet Jake got artsy with his bike.

Here's a bit of video also : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTGyXO5w9Qk

Great ride. I love this trail. Can't wait to go back with my youngest son also. Soon Joab soon!

Backpacking food

Jake and I are trying some new freeze dried meals. Been awhile since I've eaten any. Chili mac was good. The cheesy lasagna wasn't great. You can eat it but you better be hungry.

Life in Cycling 2011

I have a few things I want to look at cycling wise.  I want to ride a single speed.  I want to ride a 29er.  I want to ride a single speed 29er.  IF i would happen to enjoy any of the above, in what ever tire size or amount of gears I'd talk to this guy about making me a frame = http://www.yipsanbicycles.com/    I commented about some stuff on his facebook page and he's responded to everything.  I really want to visit his shop and have a look.

Also maybe it's the time of year but I'm really wanting a bounce around town bike.  So do my kids.  Or kid Jake.  The Balfa is a great bounce around bike but I find myself needing another.  The FSR might get called into service for this one.  Not super harsh urban stuff, but lots of curbs and 1' drops and such.  Joab being his fathers son, rebuilt his hardtail this weekend and made his basher bike.

I guess it just boils down to the fact that I wanna go ride.